Deviating from the Norm (A "Freaks and Geeks" Fanfic)

Chapter 12 - Subtle, meddlesome wrath

Being friends with the enigmatic beauty that was Kim Kelly was a roller-coaster ride all on its own sometimes. There were times when I couldn't even begin to figure out why she was acting the way she was. A little ribbing from the girl was one thing, but there were times when she was out to downright sabotage me at every turn, it seemed. To say I was pissed at the latest occurrence of her undermining would be an understatement, as she pulled the same type of shit twice (and in the same week, no less)! While I could understand that she was in a bad mood the first time (hell, we all were), the second time was just downright malicious.

It all started after a mishap with the Weir family car. Actually, 'mishap' may be too light of a word to use considering the poor thing was damn-near totaled. I had arrived at school later than usual and almost immediately spotted Lindsay in the hallway when I turned the corner. My intention was to check under the stairs to see if I could find anyone there (which was a long shot, since I knew the only time anyone really hung out there was when it was too cold out or in-between classes), but something caught my eye before I made it there. I noticed one of my old teammates, Ben Daggs, and his lanky friend (who everyone considered as a wannabe-jock, since he was basically just a benchwarmer on the basketball team) talking to Lindsay and my stomach began to turn. For the most part, I knew my little section of friends were safe from torment from the jocks because I was with them, and people generally knew not to mess with me, but when the cat's away, the mice will indulge in burnout-bashing...

Even though I had picked up my pace, I didn't arrive in time to hear whatever the two idiots had to say to Lindsay. They were laughing and bumping knuckles, walking away from Lindsay when I caused her to jump slightly with a question.

"What the hell did those idiots say?"

The look of surprise when she turned around was quickly replaced with annoyance, followed by a quick glance behind her to look at the two retreating boys, and she finally looked dismissive of the whole thing when she looked back at me again. In almost the same moment, Lindsay simply shrugged her shoulders and replied, "It's nothing."

I cocked my head to the side for a moment before disagreeing. "No, I know Ben. He's literally a moron who has viewed girls as beneath him ever since Tara Sinclair turned him down for a date in the ninth grade." I said those things, lambasting my former teammate, even though I had laughed at many of his small-minded, female-shaming jokes in the past. Sometimes I truly hated who I used to be, and often wondered how I could have been alright with being such a cliché. After finishing my statement, I began to move forward, fully intent on confronting Ben and his friend, but Lindsay protested, stopping me in my tracks.

"Donovan," she said with a smile that looked more painted on than genuine, "they're idiots, just like you said. Don't worry about 'em. Come on; let's go find everyone else."

I sighed and complied, turning around and walking down the hall with her. Before we could begin a conversation, even before we made it to the end of the hall, we could hear our friends' voices approaching from the left. Less than a second later they turned the corner, and they were all smiles and laughter. Their bright moods immediately changed mine and before I knew it, Ben was a distant memory. We fell in line with our group just to turn around and walk the same way we had came, with Lindsay inserting herself between Ken and Kim while I took a spot next to Nick.

"Guess what?" Daniel asked after we all exchanged greetings. Without giving either of us more than a nanosecond to answer, Desario did the deed himself. "We got a gig!"

"Yeah," Nick chimed in, continuing to look fairly excited even though just being around his ex was still a hard for him. "Stroker's brother is gonna let us play at his party. Uh, he's even gonna loan us a Marshall stack and a Peavy bass cabinet." He shot his arms around animatedly, nearly sticking me in the leg with one of his drum sticks while talking. "It's, like, total pro equipment."